His Undoing
by Supreme Moon Cat
Summary: A new enemy seeks his revenge against Meliodas by targeting Elizabeth. He will try to drive a wedge between them in order to shatter the Captain. Will he suceed? Will the love Meliodas has for Elizabeth be his strength or his undoing?- Melizabeth, Multi-chap. Chance of Kiane.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"Yo Ban, hurry up with that order or I'll have to cook it myself!"

"Cap'n, if I let you anywhere near this kitchen there will be no more orders for food!" Ban replied with a sing song voice. His ever present grin decorated his features as he shouted back, head popping out from the kitchen. Meliodas' only response was to chuckle as he served more ale for Elizabeth to deliver.

It was days like this she loved the most about travelling with the sins. Where the most exciting thing that happen was when a customer tried to pick up a fight with the blonde bar owner. Don't get her wrong, she loved going on adventures and defeating people who had harmed others, but there was something special about spending a peaceful day serving beer with Lord Meliodas and the other Sins. She felt like she belonged, like she was a normal girl having fun with her friends.

"Hey Elizabeth, you coming or what?" Diane told her while grabbing her arm and dragging her out of the tavern.

"Hmm? Sorry where are we going, Diane?" Asked Elizabeth not really having paid attention to what Diane had said due to being submerged in her own musings.

"To town silly!" Diane shot her a big bright smile, closing her purple eyes in glee. "I asked the Captain to let us go together into town to pick up the supplies for the Hat, since I'm small right now. It's been a while since the two of us had one of our girl talks." Diane beamed at her, while Elizabeth smiled softly. With that the two of them walked, chatting calmly to a small village a few meters away from the Boar Hat.

….

Once they reached the town entrance, they decided to split up in order to gather the supplies much more quickly. Elizabeth went towards a small square that held a market where they sold fresh fruits, and vegetables. Each stall brimmed with vibrant colours and friendly faces.

Elizabeth hummed to herself as she leaned over a crate of tomatoes, trying to pick the best ones out for the sins to eat.

"Watch out, Miss!" shouted a random passerby. The young royal turned towards the voice, but was met with a black object that crashed onto her. The silver haired princess closed her eyes, bracing herself for an imminent collision. She heard an ugly 'squawk' and felt a sharp pain at her right cheek.

"Get off her you damned bird! Shoo!" Screamed the stall owner, using her wrinkled hands to scare off the large crow. Elizabeth opened her eyes once more touching her fingertips to her cheek. A small blood droplet tainted her porcelain fingers.

"Elizabeth, are you alright?!" An alarmed Diane came rushing to her, holding her by the shoulders and examining her whole body.

"It's okay Diane. A bird just crashed into me is all. Nothing to worry about." The princess smiled at the reduced giant, effectively calming her down.

"Uff, thank god. The captain would have my butt if you got hurt!" Diane exclaimed, relief spreading over her. Elizabeth on the other hand, blushed pink at what Diane had just said. But before she could reply, the giantess said, "Let's go back, we don´t want any more bird attacks happening today, besides we already have all we need."

….

Meliodas was wiping the bar's tables happily, today had been a good day, he had fun with Elizabeth running the bar and they had earned lots of money. She was just full of joy today always smiling politely to the customer's, but even more brightly at him. Hers was a smile he would always protect, no matter the cost. It was the one thing he couldn't live without. That thought always kept him up at night. He depends too much on her, he couldn't fathom going back to a live without her. He was desperately in love with her he knew, but he would never admit it, the last time he was in love his wrath was unleashed. He swore all that death and destruction would never repeat itself, and he was a man of his word.

The blonde Sin was snapped out of his reverie when he heard the Boar's Hat door opened. In came his trusted comrade and next to her the woman who had recently become like oxygen to him, both carrying bags brimming with food and drink. They set their bags down and a small cut on Elizabeth's pearl white skin caught his eye.

He immediately walked over to her grabbing her chin softly tilting it to the left so that he could examine the injury better. His brows furrowed taking in every detail of her face.

"There's no need to worry Lord Meliodas, a bird crashed into me earlier and made this tiny cut. Please don't trouble yourself." The silverette felt the blood travel to her face due to the proximity between her and the sin of Wrath. Her eyes looking at the bar wildly, so as to not make eye contact with the handsome Captain. Her heart hammering away in her chest.

"Okay, if you say so. Just be sure to take care of yourself." _I wouldn't bare seeing you get hurt._ However those last words never left his mouth. This girl would be his undoing. He just knew.

…..

Far away, a dark crow landed on his master's hand. The shadowed man grabbed the silver hair at the crow's beak, placing it inside a small wooden box. He stashed the box away pulling out a handkerchief he wiped the animal's claw, tainting the white material red. He hid this away as well.

"You've done well my loyal servant. With this our plan will be set in motion."

 **A/N: Hey guys!**

 **I really felt like we Melizabeth shippers needed more content out there so I decided to put this out. I hope you liked it. I already have the story planned out so please tell if you like it and think I should continue.**

 **It's the first fanfic I've ever written so please- Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

 **A/N** **\- Thank you for all the follows and favourites they made me really happy I decided to go for it and launch this story.**

 **Special thanks to those who reviewed-** Dustyrose2009, Marzia Hygki, oneal1325 , , fanficlove2014, woundedowl **and those two guests. You guys really inspired me and made me wanna keep on writing.**

 **To the guest who wants me to write a Ban x Elizabeth Fanfic. Its my first time ever doing fanfiction so I think it'd be best if I focused on this stroy first. Also, I don´t really ship them so I'm not sure it would be very good.**

 **Sorry if it seems rushed. Here we gooo!**

Elizabeth's sky blue eyes scanned her surroundings. The first thing that struck her as odd was the apparent lack of hat shaped tavern in her immediate surroundings. The second and most obvious thing she noticed was the gaping black abyss staring right at her. The land around the hole was filled with lush grass, beautiful meadows stretching out for miles. If she strained her eyes she could just see the hint of a forest at a mountains base. Elizabeth stood there perplexed for several minutes unable to fully grasp how something so terrible and horrendous could exist within such a nice place. The more she stared at the darkness below her, the more she felt its pull.

The soft sound produced by some familiar booted feet caught the princess' attention. Turning around in a swift motion and stepping away from the abyss. A small gasp escaped her lips as her blue eyes set their gaze on an all too known blonde tuft of hair, surprised by the red stains on the man's body.

"Lord Meliodas, are you hurt?!" Concern washed over the young girl's features as she approached the sin of Wrath. However she abruptly stopped when he met her own concerned gaze, with a hollow, lifeless one. Instead of seeing those gorgeous emeralds he had for eyes she was met with pools of deep black. Markings of the same colour adorning his pale skin. It was a form she had seen twice before, one she hoped never to encounter again.

Elizabeth swallowed deeply, reigning her fear in. She knew Meliodas would never hurt her, he hadn't before in this form. This time however she couldn't muster the confidence to believe that. This time something was different inside him.

"Lo-Lord Me-Meliodas?" stuttered Elizabeth as she saw the blonde lift a shadow covered arm. The dark material surrounding his arm extended into a pointy claw. The demonic Meliodas locked eyes with the princess and brought his arm crashing down with incredible speed. All Elizabeth could do was shut her eyes and pray that he would come to his senses. Instead all she got was one word he uttered with disdain.

"Fake."

…..

The silver haired girl sat up in her bed, eyes wide, panting. Moonlight bathed her shared room. She turned to her right and her gaze soften considerable while staring at the small figure breathing softly. She'd heard stories of how powerful Meliodas' wrath was, but she knew very little of what had really transpired in the years before they met. Sure, she knew about Liz and how painful her death was for him, but she'd never really heard the full story.

Shaking her head lightly Elizabeth cleared those harmful thoughts from her head. She knew Lord Meliodas, didn't she? _I've seen him put everything in the line just to protect me or the Sins. He´d never harm us._ With that she reassured herself and caressing Meliodas cheek she let sleep take over.

….

The next day the third princess awoke feeling drained despite sleeping for 8 hours. _Those nightmares must have done quite the number on me._ She changed into her waitress uniform hurriedly and rushed downstairs. But instead of finding the joyous atmosphere she expected, she found the sins gathered round one of the bar tables, all completely silent.

"Is something the matter, everyone?"

"Ah! Princess you're awake. There's nothing wrong, we just got a message from the kingdom to investigate some disappearances." Replied the sin of sloth, floating over to her with Chastefiol.

"That's terrible! Where are these people disappearing from?" The princess asked, concern shining in her sky blue eyes.

"A town called Heinstein, at about 400 km north of here. The journey will take approximately 10 days if Hawk Mama keeps this pace up." Answered Gowther while raising his index finger and striking a thinking pose.

"Pugooh. I don´t understand. Can´t Merlin teleport us there with her magic?" inquired Hawk.

"I'm afraid that would be an unnecessary waste of my magic, Sir Hawk. After all it takes a lot of power to transport this many people. Besides, I heard the scenery in the north is wonderful this time of the year." Said the mage, smirking over the rim of her glass.

"Well, you guys heard Merlin, there are no shortcuts. So Ban, how about you cook us some nice breakfast. The rest of us will be in charge of setting up the table." Exclaimed the short blonde Captain.

Elizabeth nodded and got to work. But as she stretched to grab the milk from a top the shelf she felt a pair of small hands roam her body.

"EEEEP!" The young princess squeaked and blushed crimson.

"Get off her you swine!" Hawk ran toward Meliodas trying to tackle him, but the blonde just side stepped the attack.

"Captain! Stop harassing Elizabeth" exclaimed Diane gazing angrily at the captain from the tavern's window.

"I was just trying to remove the dust from Elizabeth's uniform." Said Meliodas while smiling cheekily. This, in turned caused rage in Hawk and Diane, this made them rant about the Captain's perverted habit. Which made the latter pout like a child. Elizabeth chuckled softly at their antics. But suddenly her smile faded as she remembered the horrible nightmare she had.

FAKE.

 _Maybe Meliodas only fondles me because I remind him of Liz. Maybe he doesn´t really like me for me. Maybe he just protects me because I look like her._ Shocked by her own thoughts, the princess decided to focus on setting the table instead of thinking of her nightmare. However she couldn't keep her mind from wandering. Those thoughts would never have crossed her mind before, but that small 4 lettered word kept repeating itself inside her head, over and over.

FAKE. FAKE. FAKE.

 _Meliodas doesn't really think of me that way, right?_

 **Hey there! Sorry if it came out feeling forced. I'm trying my best to set up the story and show Elizabeth's thoughts, feelings and the effect the nightmares had on her.**

 **I really want feedback on this chapter so that I can improve my writing and try to get everyone in character. Please review or comment!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Exhausted. Meliodas felt that was the only word that would be able to describe his current status. They had embarked on their journey to Heinstein 6 days ago and had already covered good ground, but they knew they would have to eventually let Hawk Mama rest and "refuel". So far their trip had been peaceful. Merlin hadn't lied about the land here being beautiful. There were flowers all around, beautiful multi coloured meadows were always in the background. Huge patches of forests littered the scenery. Birds and other wildlife could be spotted every 5 minutes. It seemed magical and it kind of reminded him of the Fairy King's forest. Unfortunately, he knew he wasn't the only one who thought of that comparison.

The journey had brought out some unpleasant memories for Ban and King. Luckily, the fairy king had managed to open up to an insisting giantess and let all of his troubles out in exchange for her comfort. This made the blonde captain immensely happy, he knew the pain and guilt of losing someone precious to you, but he also knew the only way to get rid of it was to find someone new to protect and for the grizzly sin of sloth, that someone was none other than his tall friend.

His best friend on the other hand wasn't the best when it came to dealing with emotional pain. On the first few days of their voyage, the fox sin had tried to increase his drinking tolerance. It had been awful to see him drunk and miserable every night but everyone knew that the only person who would ever hold Ban's heart was Elaine, so they were at their rope's end on what to do to cheer up their friend. They had all tried talking to him but nothing they said ever got through to him. So on their third day of travel, Meliodas decided he had had enough. He went up to the mopey sin that was sat at one of the bar tables and punched him right out of the tavern door.

"What was that for cap'n?!" asked the white haired man as he wiped blood of his cheek.

"Yo Ban! I'm gonna get rusty if all we do in this trip is hang round the bar. Whatcha say, wanna have a little sparring match or are you afraid to lose?" The fox sin smirked and launched himself into battle. Since then it became their little routine to spar every afternoon, and sometimes other sins would join them.

That was exactly why he felt so exhausted tonight. This time instead of one more sin joining them or just being him and Ban, they decided to have a free for all. The winner would be able to decide their meals for the rest of the week. And although he felt like shit, he had a smile on his face. Everyone had seemed happy, so happy in fact their little fight had dragged into nightfall. Which is why they had agreed to cut their match short and go to sleep, sunrise was just 4 hours away and tomorrow they would actually have to open up the tavern to the public.

….

As Meliodas crept up toward his shared bedroom he heard small whimpers and pleas coming from the princess. _Naughty little princess, having a grown up dream?_ He smirked as the perverted thoughts spun around his mind.

"M-me-meliodas-sama please, stop" _With me?! I never thought the princess had such an impure imagination._ Putting his childlike fist on the knob the perverted captain prepared to pounce on the princess and fondle her like there was no tomorrow.

He threw himself toward the bed aiming for his head to end in the valley of her breasts. His face, however, did not end up submerged in supple flesh, instead the blonde found himself alone on the bed. He looked up and searched for the silver haired maiden in the small bedroom. He found her, backed into a corner, with a petrified look on her face. That's when he saw them.

Tears.

Tears adorned her porcelain cheeks. She'd been crying. She'd had a nightmare. He'd been in it. And now she was afraid. He could see it in her eyes, wide as saucers. Her lips trembled slightly. Her fingers curled around her nightgown, knuckles white. She looked like she had stared death in the face. She looked like she had seen a demon.

Concern washed over the sin of Wrath. What had happen? What could she have seen in that nightmare? He gulped and sculpted his features into a soft comforting gaze. He extended his hand and approached her slowly, as if he were approaching a baby deer. "Elizabeth, what's-"

She flinched. The woman who meant more to him in the world, flinched because of him. She was his saviour, the one who had brought light and hope back into his gloomy existence. The woman he would do anything for. She flinched away.

"I'm-I'm sorry Meliodas-sama." The princess stood up clumsily and went toward the door, her eyes never leaving Meliodas' form. She opened the door hastily and left. Never taking her eyes of him.

Meliodas climbed to his cold bed feeling defeated. He didn't bother with the bedsheets gathered by the floor. He placed his left arm over his eyes. No sound left his mouth but his small form trembled slightly a couple times. A single tear made its way down his cheek.

 _What have I done?_

….

He hadn't seen it today. He saw it every day at least 5 times but today not even once. She was avoiding him, he knew as much. He understood why she did it, she didn´t want to talk about it and relive whatever had happened in her nightmare, but he was growing crazy like this. He needed to see her smile.

"I detect frustration coming off of you Cap'n is something wrong between you and the princess?" Yellow unfeeling eyes examined the blonde as the sin of lust said this. His interest for human interactions made him the last person Meliodas wanted to see right now. Luckily the other sins took notice of this.

"Gowther, stop annoying the captain. Don´t you see there's trouble in paradise?" Meliodas gave Merlin a look that warned her not to bother him. Gowther studied the look the two shared and decided, wisely, against interfering. He went looking for the fairy and giant instead.

Meliodas on the other hand decided to ignore the witch's presence and continued to watch Elizabeth from behind the counter. She was all polite smiles and cutesy apologise. She was wearing a mask. The mask she was taught to use as a princess. It made him so mad to see her like this. This wasn´t the kind woman he had come to love, she was just a shadow of who she was. "Captain, I don´t think it fair for the mugs to be punished for your anger."

At the sound of her voice, Meliodas focused once again on the wizard sitting by the bar. Merlin's catlike eyes looked at him and then at the beer mug he was holding. There were cracks on the wood beneath his fist. "You can't let your feelings reign over you captain. Whatever is going between the two of you, fix it. We'll soon face a powerful enemy. You need to make sure you're in control of your anger." With that the sin of Gluttony left the tavern and made her way to her room.

Meliodas sighed. He knew what he had to do. But he also knew that it wasn't going to be easy. But the good things in life never wore. He was going to talk with Elizabeth.

He would get her smile back.

 **…**

 **Hey everyone! Sorry for not updating** **L** **I feel really bad for not continuing right away but I'm glad I had time to figure out how I would show what both Elizabeth and Meliodas are feeling and what these nightmares will do to their relationship. I'll try to update quickly but no promises.**

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed, follow and faved. You've been amazing readers and commenters. See you soon (hopefully)!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N- Sorry for the long wait! I made it extra-long to compensate for the wait.**

 **Chapter Four**

She couldn't do it. She wanted to, really but she just couldn´t do it. Try as she might she couldn't meet the blonde man's emerald gaze. It was just so hard to do it when she saw those, those atrocities in her mind whenever she thought of him. Death, destruction and decay. Entire families slain, motionless bodies and soulless eyes staring at her. _Help us, please._ And worst of all, him. Meliodas. The man she loved standing in the middle of the carnage. His eyes the darkest shade of black she'd ever seen. Unfeeling and drench in blood, she had seen him over and over kill the citizens of this kingdom.

But the most awful and heart wrenching part about this whole ordeal was that it had happened. She knew he had destroyed Danafor after a demon had killed Liz, but she'd never really thought about what that meant for the people who had been alive in Danafor at the time. She had forgiven him for all his sins without a second thought because she loved him. But now that she saw these scenes every night she wasn´t sure she could over look that fact just as easily.

Elizabeth had wanted time to herself, away from the sins so she could sort out her feelings towards the events that transpired in her nightmares. She had wanted to have some type of reflexion so that she could understand what this nightmares meant and so that she could decide how she would view Meliodas from now on. She still loved him very much, but she was starting to feel like she knew way too little about the captain of the sins.

Due to this nightmares the princess realized how little Meliodas had actually told him about his past. She had only learned about his past lover Liz thanks to Sir Cain and she'd found out about his demon heritage due to it coming out during battle. Did he not trust her enough to tell her about his past? Or perhaps he thought she would never forgive him if she knew? Could she really be in love with a man who didn't trust her with his past?

Perhaps, she shouldn't have been as rash as to blindly follow the sins everywhere. It had just seem like the right thing to do at the time. Her father had told her many times as a child that she should follow her heart. So she had done as she was told, as every part of her being told her to do, but now it seemed her heart and brain couldn't agree on what to do. She needed inner peace. She needed to stop seeing dead corpses. She needed a break.

However, she'd have to wait, Heinstein was just a four day travel from the tavern's current location, in the small mining town of Dariol. Once the sins and her arrived at their destination she would take some time alone to reflect. The sooner she got inner peace, the sooner she could ask Meliodas about his past.

"Hey, doll! Come 'ere, bring me a drink, the food's better when you're around" slurred a rather drunk miner who seemed to have forgotten, at least for the night, the existence of his wife and son who slept soundly less than two kilometres away. The young royal forced herself to smile politely, she loved working in the tavern, but sometimes the patrons were too much for her. Nevertheless, she reigned in her dislike, grabbed some ale and strode determinedly to the troll looking man. If the sins could face demons for her kingdom, she could face a drunkard for their tavern.

"Here you go, Sir. I hope this drink is too your liking, feel free to order anything else you want." The silverette bowed slightly and made haste to walk away. Unfortunately, the man wasn't ready to relinquish her company just yet.

"Don't go just yet, sweetcheeks. There's something else I want and that's you on my bed, tonight." He drawled while gaining a rough grip on her soft hand. This time Elizabeth made no effort to stop the grimace that surfaced on her gorgeous face.

"I'm afraid I'm not on the menu. I think you should leave, you've had enough to drink." She said as she tried to force herself out of his vice-like hold.

"Awww, come on babe, don't be like that. I can show you what a real man is like" The stench of alcohol mixed with his natural bad breath made the princess want to barf as he whispered in her ear. She doubled her efforts to get away from him.

All of a sudden, the waitress heard the sickening crack of bones being broken and felt her bump connect with the hard wooden floor.

"I believe the lady has expressed her wish for you to leave." Meliodas' voice was tinted with anger and something darker as it rose above the wails of the small town man. Sensing the menacing atmosphere radiating from the captain, Merlin stood up ready to disperse the crowd.

"Alright everyone, you heard the owner, time to leave to your houses and lovely families. Bar's closed." The guests all left as quickly as they could, not wanting to risk angering the blond boy further. The miner's friends carried him out, frightened to the bone by the young boy's behaviour.

After the commotion, the tavern remained silent. None of the sins dared make a sound as they retreated quietly to their own rooms. The captain and Elizabeth needed to talk. Alone.

Meliodas took five deep breaths calming himself down, extinguishing the flames of his wrath. Once he felt like he could trust himself again he turned around, green eyes sparkling and a smile plastered on his face. He extended a hand to the druid priestess and awaited her's.

Her sky blue eyes examined his, searching for any sign of black. When she found none, she reluctantly took his hand. That, however, proved to be a mistake because images of children screaming flashed through her mind. She withdrew her hand hastily when she got to her feet. She suddenly seemed very interest in the hardwood of the bar as she spoke; "Thank you, Si-s-Sir Meliodas, but I'm sure I no harm would have come to me. Nonetheless…Thank you."

Meliodas' face fell and he prepared himself for the worst. He had to talk to her, he knew, he just wished it was under different circumstances.

"Elizabeth, are you scared of me?" This took her by surprise. Her gaze immeaditaly met his. The princess opened her mouth to respond but had trouble coming up with something to say. She wasn't prepared for this. She needed to sort out her own mind first. Ugh, why as fate so cruel to her?

"What?! Eh, No!... I mean I'm not afraid, I just…Ugh! Meliodas-sama, what really happened in Danafor?" She blurted out without thinking. How could she when all she had running through her head were those…images. _Please, help us._

At this the sin of Wrath visibly tensed. He was ready to talk about anything, just not this. There was too much hurt that came with talking about Danafor. Especially with some who looked so much like Her. It was his turn to avoid her inquiring stare.

"I… Elizabeth what happened in Danafor is not something I like to talk about. You shouldn't be worrying yourself over it. It was a long time ago. Please, don't push this. I don't want to reminisce about the past. Please, let it go." Every fiber in his body begged her not to push him. He knew he was being unfair but she needed to understand that he just wasn't ready to share this. She wouldn't look at him the same way if she knew his sin.

"No." She said resolute, "You can't just expect me to be quiet like a good child and not ask any questions when you know everything about me, while I know so little about your past. Especially when I keep seeing you do these atrocities in my mind. Everything, everything I know about your past I've heard from someone else. Yet whenever you've asked, I've told you. But, when I need to know about one event, just one, for the sake of my mental health you… I can't stand this anymore! I can't trust someone who doesn't trust me back! Please! Tell me what happened!" She pleaded with tears running down her cheeks. Hoping she was wrong. Hoping that the she loved trusted her enough to tell her.

But, just by staring at his heartbroken guilty face, she knew. He couldn't tell her. The man she had given her heart to didn't trust her.

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry. I just-"

"Save it. I don't want to hear it." And with that the princess left the tavern floor and cried herself to sleep.

 **A/N- Poor Elizabeth is so confused and hurt. :'c**

 **Hey guys sorry for the long wait. School started once more and I really wanted to make this chapter especial since it is the last chapter before the action starts. I hope you liked it and don't worry Meliodas and Elizabeth won't suffer for ever.**

 **Please review or comment! They motivate me (and remind me) to write more. Lots of love.**


	5. Chapter 5

Heinstein was a vibrant and rambunctious town; and this bothered Meliodas to no end. Well, to be fair, everything bothered Meliodas to no end these days. Elizabeth still wasn't talking to him and after having the Sins dance around him in an effort not to annoy him for the last 4 four days, he supposed a lively town would be a nice change for all of them. Still, something seemed off, people had been disappearing from this town for a few months now and yet no one seemed at all afflicted.

The Captain of the Sins couldn't sense anything amiss with the town and now that Merlin had been called back to Camelot, something about a weird plague sweeping though Arthur's army and her not being able to resist the possibility of getting a new test subject, he had no way of being certain there was no magic at play. He decided to let it go for now, whatever it was he and his friends could take care of it without any problems when the time came. Right now, they could enjoy a much-needed change of atmosphere.

"Okay everyone welcome to Heinstein, these next few days we'll be trying to figure out what happened to the people who went missing, so be sure to ask around. But, don't forget to have fun, it's been a long journey after all!" he ordered showing off a small grin.

"Thanks Captain, you're the best" Diane beamed while gripping King's hand tightly and dragging him as he lay atop Chastefiol, "I heard they have these amazing wild berry pies that you can't just get enough off…" she babbled on while the fairy's face went pink.

A small giggle resounded behind Meliodas as Elizabeth watched the two go on their merry way. "Oh and by the way Elizabeth, make sure to keep your identity hidden. We wouldn't want anyone spotting a member of the Royal Family while we are investigating these disappearances."

"Of course," said the princess while averting her eyes to the cobbled streets, her small smile and happy shine in her eyes disappearing completely. Meliodas swore he felt someone pierce his seven hearts at once.

"Good, now that that's settled," the Captain's childlike face turned towards Ban, "Let's go taste test this local ale I've heard so much about, Ban!"

"Now you're talking Cap'n ~" proclaimed the Immortal with a wolfish grin and a small fire dancing in his ruby eyes.

"Don't get too drunk, Ban! I don't want to be used as a pillow again." Huffed Hawk, but it was too late the two best friends had already ran off.

…

A couple of hours later, with a passed-out Ban under the table, Meliodas sat in bliss relieved to be able to find a momentary distraction from the tension he expected as soon as he got back to the tavern. However, his little happy moment was broken when he overheard the conversation happening around the other table.

"You heard 'bout Tobias?" slurred a pink cheeked gentleman to the other two accompanying him. All sporting the same drunken look.

"Yeah, pretty rough. Wife said she chased him down a whole street ready to whack'im and get 'im back to bet. But just as she was 'bout to catch up, he turns a corner and POOF! Vanishes. No footsteps no nothing. Been gone for 3 days." The drunk speaker sat down and took a sip of his chop satisfied with the wide-eyed expressions of the men around him. After all he'd put on quite the show, following his words with drunken mimics and sprinkling some sound effects here and there.

His self-satisfied expression shifted to one of surprise when he felt three gentle taps on his shoulder. Turning around slowly his unfocused eyes set upon a blonde child. "What's wrong little boy? Did my wittle story scare ya?"

Meliodas shook his head vigorously three times. _Might as well play the part, never know who might be listening._ "I'm just curious, Mister. Why did the man suddenly walk out of his home?"

The man in his drunkenness didn't stop to question how the hell a little kid had gotten into a tavern, instead he just shrugged, took a sip of the golden liquid and proceeded to answer, "Dunno, Martha said somethin' 'bout 'im claiming to be called Jeremiah and spouting shit of being a holy knight of some weird ass kingdom. The guy worked too much anyway, he probably just snapped. Eh, it's not like anyone cares 'bout 'im anyway."

The small captain brought his fist below his chin. Something wasn't right, he knew. After a moment, the deadly sin of Wrath faced the drunk man once more. His eyes were the sizes of saucers sparkling with naivety, his bottom lip jutting out slightly showing a cute little pout. "But-but," he stuttered adorably, desperate to sell his image as a curious child, "I don't get it Mister, shouldn't people be more worried? I mean why aren't they searching for him?"

"Hahaha, aww kid don't work yourself up over nothin'," he cooed rubbing Meliodas head a bit to roughly for the Sin's preference but he could take it if it meant he got the information he sought, "After a while you'll forget all about it. I mean look at me!" his hands sloppily gestured to himself. "I used to hang out with the guy every night in 'ere. Heck! I was his best man when he got married and don't give a damn he's missing now. It's just like that in this town, no one is really affected by anything. We just move on and eventually we forget they were there in the first place." With that, the rosy cheeked man gave Meliodas a pat on the back, picked up his mug and continued drinking contently.

Having heard enough the blonde turned around on his heel and made his way out of the tavern dragging a semi-awake Ban by the collar. There was something odd going on in this town and he had to find out what it was soon, before someone else was gone and forgotten.

…

Outside the tavern, the town was deserted. The further away they got the louder their own footsteps seemed and under the soft silver glow of the moon, the place seemed eerie, not that that bothered the two friends. Ban, still sporting pink cheeks and hazy eyes, walked leisurely while he looked at the houses lining the street. His shorter companion however held a staring contest with the cobbled stoned street, his expression pinched. Sparing a glance toward his best friend Ban sighed.

"So, cap'n, I know I'm probably still drunk and that you could potentially kill me for asking but…What's going on between you and the Princess?" Mumbled the fox sin nonchalantly. Meliodas tensed, he wasn't sure he wanted to talk about it just yet. "I mean it's obvious you two are fightin' n' all but I mean, I guess I've never seen you two really fight, much less for this long."

"It's complicated, Ban." The captain was completely tense now, his facial expression shifted. Finally, he seemed to have settled for something but as he opened his lips "I-I…" he growled and frowned, exasperated at his lack of words.

Ban came to a full stop, forcing Meliodas to turn and look at him. Determination burned in the Immortal's eyes, with a hint of something else the blonde couldn't read. "Listen, if you love her, and we all know you do, then you should do right by her. Because when you love someone you don't waste precious time fighting over meaningless stuff. When you love her, you cherish her and protect her and you make sure she's happy. When you love her, you spend every goddamned moment you have together holding her in your arms making sure she knows how much you love her. So that if anything happens to them, they know how much you loved them and how much you'll fight to get them back."

Red irises glistened under the moonlight, looking up beyond the clouds and stairs. Meliodas' face softened. "I'm sorry, Ban. You're right. Thank you for showing me what an idiot I am." With that he smiled hands inside his pant pockets. Ban's melancholic stare posed itself on Meliodas and he showed the tiny demon a toothed grin.

The two friends resumed their walk toward the hat joking about old battles and crazy antics. Still, a deep understanding lingered in the air around the two.

….

As the two gentlemen reached the dirt road leading towards the tavern they met up with their comrades. King and Diane were the ones they encountered first seemingly lost in their little world, just the two of them. They were both adorned with flower crowns that had fluffy lilac flowers threaded into them. Their eyes showed profound affection which could be confirmed by the sweet rose tint of their cheeks.

Unfortunately for the two, their small bubble would soon be burst with a swift but intensely embarrassing, "Atta boy, King!" Spoken by Ban. Even beneath the moonlight Meliodas was certain the pair's faces would be even redder than the tomatoes they'd bought that morning. With that the romance in the air dispelled and a deep calm set into the air between the four friends. That was until a robotic voice proclaimed:

"Diane, King do you suffer a cardiac condition? I'm picking up abnormally high heart rates that could be attributed to heart problems or perhaps a possible attract-" the goat sin was properly silenced by Gideon. Of course, this wasn't completely effective so the fairy decided he'd invent a new form for Chastefiol: a gag.

Step by step the Boar's hat drew near and with it Meliodas' anxiety increased. He was going to confront Elizabeth, apologize and tell her all about his past with her and about Danafor. If she would still want to be near him after she learnt all that was up to her, but a little voice in the back of his head was intent on reminding him how amazing this woman was when it came to forgiveness.

After having mentally repeating a thousand times the exact words he would utter when he saw her, he was ready to step inside the warm glow behind the tavern door. However, as his skin encountered the cold material of the door knob, he felt his hearts freeze and resume beating with 50 times the intensity. A marvelous melody had reached his ears, her soft sweet laugh flowed from behind the closed door.

Swallowing thickly, he opened the door only to be greeted by a sight that made his heart clench. His beautiful goddess was laughing in pure glee at a young man who had taken up the challenge of balancing a tray with 5 beer mugs on his head. The boy was having a hard time, for obvious reasons, but he smiled nonetheless, not paying attention to the droplets of beer that fell onto his white shirt. Hawk watched in amusement while digging happily into a plate of leftovers. The stranger waved his arms frantically moving around the tavern in order to keep his balance. Elizabeth's giggling increased when he finally tripped over the leg of a chair, in a futile effort she attempted to cover it up with her hand.

"You know, it's not very polite to laugh at someone suffering." said the young man with a smirk. His brunette curls were now flat against his head, soaked with the golden liquid.

Elizabeth rushed over and helped the gentleman up. Her pearl colored skin contrasted with his tanned hand. She smiled sweetly at him once he was back on his feet, his hand taking a little too long to detach itself from hers. "I hardly think what you just endured can be considered suffering, Marco-san." Marco's lips turned up at her remark, however they quickly fell when he stopped the crowd by the door.

"Uh, Miss Elizabeth? I think your customers have arrived." This had Elizabeth spinning right on her heels to face the entrance and Hawk lifting her face out from her leftovers. The princess' sapphire eye shone with guilt and surprise, she felt like a child who had just been caught with her hand inside the cookie jar. A small blush dusted her cheeks but she quickly turned to the brunette once more politely requesting he left.

Marco's piercing hazel eyes lingered on Elizabeth, his face painted with a serious expression. His stare slowly made its way towards the door making contact with fierce emerald irises. Time stood still for a couple of minutes. Elizabeth swore everyone in the tavern could hear her heart beat in her chest from how loud it felt to her own ears. A second later, a smile broke out on the younger man's face. "Well, Miss Elizabeth it's been a pleasure to entertain you tonight. I hope I get to see you guys again before you leave." Marco bowed profoundly before them, winked in her direction and then made his way towards the small group. He spared a glance at Meliodas but did not falter in his step, moving around him to get outside.

Once the newcomer was gone a blanket of silence engulfed the bar. Everyone's eyes darted to the Captain's form unsure of how he might react. Elizabeth was the first to break the silence, "Meliodas, I can explain-" She stopped mid explanation, caught off guard by the carefree look on the Captain's face: he had a closed eyed smile in his face.

"What are you taking about? There's nothing to explain. I'm glad you made friends with someone from the town!" Crossing his arms behind his head he happily made his way towards the bar counter. Once he sat down on one of the stools he turned around, his brows furrowed in confusion. "Ban, what are you waiting for? Or do you want me to cook dinner instead?"

The threat of eating Meliodas' cooking broke everyone out of their trance. The fox sin dashed to the kitchen fearing what the Captain would do if he waited any longer. The silverette made her way towards the staircase but before taking a step forward she shot Meliodas a guilty look. Seeing this go unnoticed she bit her lip and continued forward, after all she had no obligation to tell him anything if he didn't ask.

At the other side of the tavern Gowther leaned against the wall. His yellow eyes were narrowed and focused on the floorboards. Something felt off to him, how come none of them had sense a third presence in the bar prior to opening the door?

 **A/N- First of all, IM SORRY. I know I haven't updated in over a year and I have a million reasons for that but I'm just gonna name the one I feel you'll understand.**

 **I have the story planned I just felt like it was too cliche and I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue so I had to rework some parts of how im going to continue this. Besides, with everything that's happening in the Manga I don't want to contradict anything. I also had my IGCSEs (I live in Peru) and got a new laptop that was broken for like 3 months.**

 **Anyway, I have no idea when I will update again, hopefully in July when I get my winter break. For now I'm not dropping the story yet but the updates are gonna be very slow.**

 **Thank you to all of those who comment and voted. Your comments reminded me why I needed to update and try to finish the story. I hope you liked this chapter.**


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